Since the beginning of April, when the 2018 Diamond Certified Directory started landing in Bay Area mailboxes, our receptionist, Ian Leary, has been rather busy. “Call volume has been 700 to 800 percent higher than normal,” he says, in between answering the phone. “The most common question I get is, ‘Where’s my directory?’ Callers say, ‘I get it every year and I really need a new one’ or ‘I depend on my Diamond Certified Directory.’”

The fact that many callers haven’t received directories is no surprise. The 800,000 directories we send to Bay Area homes and businesses only cover about 30 percent of Bay Area households. Read more

I started thinking about my preparedness a lot last fall when fires were raging in Northern California. One day, I came across an article in Consumer Reports magazine that made six key points about fire extinguishers:

1. Make sure you know where yours are.
2. Make sure they’re not coated in dust.
3. Put them on every level of your house.
4. Keep small extinguishers in your car and kitchen.
5. Keep a multipurpose extinguisher in your garage.
6. Make sure the arrows on the indicators point to green, which means they’ll work when the pins are pulled. Read more

Two weeks ago, we mailed the 2018 Diamond Certified Directory to more than 800,000 homes and businesses throughout the San Francisco Bay Area (if you didn’t get your FREE copy, click here). We’ve made some exciting changes to the Directory this year, so it’s time to get reacquainted!

Every April, American Ratings Corporation publishes 10 versions of the Diamond Certified Directory, covering all of the Greater Bay Area (including Monterey). Read more

Being a savvy consumer takes a little extra work, but you’ll get big payoffs in the long run. In this video, Chris Bjorklund, Consumer Advocate, and Joy Lanzaro, Director of Mediation & Compliance, walk you through 10 steps you can take to ensure your transactions go smoothly. When you’re done, check out our Problem Resolution & Mediation Hub to learn more about consumer affairs. Lastly, remember, Diamond Certified Preferred Consumers are backed by a Double Diamond Certified Performance Guarantee when they use Diamond Certified companies (enroll here, it’s free!).

It’s been a little over three months since we launched our new-and-improved website, and we’re thrilled with the response. The new site is both easy to navigate and filled with the information consumers need to make informed decisions. If you haven’t checked it out yet, here’s your chance. Below is a guide to some of the main pages on the new site. Take a look and let us know what you think!

The 2018 Diamond Certified Home Service Calendar is our way of saying "thanks." Photo: American Ratings Corporation, 2018

Help us celebrate our new website by taking our 1-minute video tour at diamondcertified.org. To show our appreciation, we’ll mail your family a FREE 2018 Diamond Certified Home Service Calendar and donate in your name to your local fire district. But don’t delay—we have a limited supply of calendars and they’re going fast.